A Second Chance
by PrimaDonna24601
Summary: On hold until further notice.
1. Chapter 1

Holly was so excited. She was getting to go to the newly rebuilt Opera Populaire! After 141 years, the opera house was getting ready for its grand reopening in three months. Holly had decided to try out for the part of Elissa in the opera Hannibal. From what Holly had heard, this was one of the last opera's to have been performed before a fire had destroyed the original opera house. She had also heard that a supposed opera ghost had been the one to cause the fire. When she had heard this, she couldn't help laughing at the idea. There were no such things as ghosts.

As Holly was walking to the opera house, she thought about all that had happened in the past two months. At twenty years old, she had lost both of her parents in a car accident. She had then found out that her only living realtive was an aunt, who had moved from North Carolina to Paris. Holly had then decided that she would move to Paris to live with her aunt. She had no friends where she lived and so going to Paris could give her a fresh start.

When Holly reached the opera house, she couldn't believe what she saw. In front of her was the most beautiful place she had ever seen. Even though it was new, the opera house looked like it belonged in a time long ago. "The opera house has been built to look like the original one that once stood here." A voice said, coming from behind her. When she turned around to see who the owner of the voice was, she saw a very handsome man. He had blue eyes and short, dirty blonde hair. "That's amazing." Holly said. After a pause, the man spoke up. "My name is Julien." He said. "Julien de Chagny." "It's nice to meet you." Holly said. "I'm Holly Smith. How did you know that about the opera house?" "My parents are patrons of the opera." Julien told her. "Some of my ancestors were patrons when the original opera house burnt down. My great-great-great grandmother was also the leading soprano when it burnt down." "Wow." Holly said. She then looked down at her watch. It was 9:45 and the auditions started at 10:00. "Well, I don't want to be late for my audition." She said. "It was nice meeting you." "Good luck in your audition." Julien said.

**A/N: Thanks for reading the first chapter! I will try to get chapters up as quickly as possible, but I am working on another Phanfic at the same time, called Phantom of the Opera: A New Beginning. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

"Good morning, ladies." A man said. "I am Monsieur Trudeaux, the manager of the Opera Populaire." After Monsieur Trudeaux finished telling everyone about the audition process, all the girls were given a number. Holly was number ten. After waiting for what seemed like hours, it was finally Holly's turn. "Mademoiselle, if you are ready to begin, we will start at the beginning of Elissa's aria in act three." Monsieur Trudeaux said. Holly then took a big breath. This was the song she had been preparing ever since she first heard about the audition. All of a sudden, Holly froze. She couldn't remember the first words. Then, somehow the words began to flow out of her mouth. _Think of me, think of me fondly, when we say goodbye._ When she sang, her voice sounded like honey. After singing the final note, Holly breathed a sigh of relief. She was finished with the audition. It was one of the scariest auditions in her life. She had never auditioned in front of so many people before. _If there had been one more person listening to my audition, I think I would have fainted._ What she didn't know was that there had been one more person listening to her, five stories below the ground.

**A/N: So, someone is below the opera house. Some of you probably already know who it is, but if you don't, you'll meet him in the next chapter. Sorry about the short chapter. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

Erik couldn't believe what he had just heard coming from the opera house above. It sounded like his Angel of Music, but he knew that that was impossible. It had been 84 years since Christine had died. But this voice sounded so much like her. Even though the voice wasn't as strong, it still reminde him of her. He would have to find out who the person was that the voice came from. But how would he find her when he didn't even know her name? Then he remembered something: he had heard them say her number. Now all he needed to do was get the manager to tell him her name and make sure that he hired her. He would do wahtever it took to see that she was the leading soprano. He would have his way. He then went to find a pen and some paper.

~o~

Monsieur Trudeaux was sitting at his desk when he heard a knock on the door. "Enter." He said. When he looked up, he saw the ballet mistress, Marie Giry, standing in front of him with a piece of paper in her hand. "Monsieur Trudeaux, I have a message for you." She said. "Who is it from?" He asked. "I cannot tell you his name, monsieur." She said. "I can only tell you that I have been instructed to give it to you." As she handed him the note, he noticed that his name was written on the front. "Thank you, Mademoiselle Giry." He told her. When she was finally out of the room, he opened the note and began to read.

_Dear Monsieur Trudeaux,_

_ Earlier today I heard on of the young ladies auditioning for the opera. I will be most pleased when you inform me of her name and when you cast her in the part of Elissa. All I know is that she was number ten in the audition. If you do not do as I demand, a disaster will occur, much like what occurred almost 150 years ago. You will send your reply back with Mademoiselle Giry._

_I remain your obedient servant,_

_OG_

Monsieur Trudeaux couldn't believe what he had just read. Someone had the nerve to tell him who to cast! He then remembered something from his childhood. When he was young, his grandmother had told him about how a fire had destroyed the original opera house and that the imfamous opera ghost had been the one to destroy it when she was a little girl. But this couldn't be the same "ghost"! This had to be someone who had decided to pull a prank. Didn't it? He was the manager and no one was going to pull a prank with him in charge. All of the sudden, as if able to read his mind, a disembodied voice spoke. "Oh, I can assure you that this is no prank." The voice said. "I am the opera ghost and I am real. Please give Mademoiselle Giry your reply and you won't have a disaster on your hands. I am expecting a reply from you today." When Monsieur Trudeaux no longer heard the voice and regained his composure, he quickly wrote a reply.

~o~


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Update: 10/8/11- The rating has now gone down. When I originally wrote this chapter, I was going through a phase in which I had been reading more steamy fanfiction. Now that I recently read this chapter over again, I realized I didn't like that part of the story. So, I rewrote that part and it's not as steamy now. Still, I hope you enjoy it! R&R!**

Holly was so nervous. She had gotten a phone call from Monsieur Trudeaux telling her that she had gotten the role of Elissa. He had then told her to come to the opera house that night at 8 o'clock. When she had found out about getting the part at first, she had been very excited. Then when she realized that he had said to come at 8, she became somewhat nervous. What could be so urgent that they needed her to come so late at night?

When she reached the opera house, she noticed Monsieur Trudeaux and a woman she didn't recognize standing outside. "Good evening, Mademoiselle Smith." Trudeaux said. "Let me introduce you to our ballet mistress, Mademoiselle Marie Giry. Mademoiselle Giry will be giving you singing lessons." "Please follow me." Mlle. Giry said, giving a look that made Holly think that that was her only option.

Once they were inside, Mlle. Giry turned to face Holly. "Mademoiselle, I will not be giving you singing lessons as M. Trudeaux said before." She said. "Instead, I will be taking you to my master. He will be the one to give you singing lessons." Without another word, Holly followed the ballet mistress. At first, Holly thought they would be going to the room in which she had warmed up in her audition for, but they passed right by that room. They then passed by many more doors before stopping in front of two doors at the end of the hallway. When they went inside the room, Holly noticed that it was a dressing room. "This will be your dressing room whenever you come to the opera." Mlle. Giry told her. "Please stay in here until the master comes and gets you." As soon as she had finished, Mlle. Giry left the room. Then, Holly heard what sounded lik a door being locked, but she couldn't be sure. As she looked around her room, Holly noticed that the room had recently been painted. She also noticed that the room didn't have any furniture in it. In fact, the only sign of decoration in the room was a big hanging mirror on the opposite wall. As Holly looked down at her cellphone, she noticed that it was almost 9:00. She hadn't realized that she had been there so long. A few minutes later, she heard a sound coming from the wall where the mirror was hanging. As she looked towards the mirror, she noticed that it was opening. Then, a man stepped into the room. When Holly looked at him, she couldn't believe what she saw. Before her was the most perfect looking man she had ever seen. Everything, including his face, was perfect. What she could see of his face, though. Half of his face was covered by a white mask. After about a minute, the man finally spoke. "Come with me." He said. He then held out a gloved hand. Then, as if she was hyponotized, Holly took his hand. As they walked through the mirror, Holly noticed that she was getting warmer. She had gotten warmer when she had first touched his hand. This made her wonder if he felt the same thing.

After a couple of minutes, Holly noticed that they were walking through a maze of corridors with only candlelight to show the way. While they were walking, Holly realized that she didn't know something. "What's your name?" She asked. "Erik." He mumbled. Soon, they reached a boat at the edge of some water. "Get in." Erik told her. As he helped her in, Holly felt the warmth in her body grow even stronger. When he finally got in, they began to move through a really long tunnel. Then they finally reached the end of the tunnel and stopped.

~o~

As Erik helped Holly out of the boat, he thought about how beautiful she was. She was almost as beautiful as Christine. And that surprised Erik. After Christine left him, he thought he would never see a woman as beautiful as Christine. Yet, here she was. So, that was another thing that he could add to the list. The list had become quite long since that night from his youth. The night that, until Christine, he had thought had ruined his life forever. The night he had been cursed.

**A/N: So, Erik has a curse. You'll learn more about this curse in a later chapter. Don't forget to review!**


	5. Chapter 5

As they walked towards the pipe organ, Holly couldn't help being amazed. For a place so far below the ground, it had a mysterious and amazing air about it. Holly could tell that something had happened many years ago. And she would find out. "Let's start with scales." Erik said, as he sat down at the organ. After a couple of hours of doing warm-ups, Erik looked up at Holly. "Now, let's look at Elissa's aria from act three." He said. "There are some things we need to work on. For example, you need to work on your breath control and your dynamics." "Alright." Holly then noticed that Erik had a kind of surprised look on his face. "What?" She asked. "It doesn't surprise me that you want me to work on breath control and dynamics. When I was in high school, my chorus teacher was always having to tell me work on my dynamics and she was always telling everyone not to breathe so much." "Well, at least you're willing to admit that you do have trouble with them." Erik said. "So let's begin. And don't forget to pay attention to where you breathe and to what your dynamics are supposed to be."

After an hour of singing only the aria, Erik finally stopped her. "Now, if you don't annunciate your words more, you might as well sing it underwater to a school of fish!" Erik said, frustration coming out in his voice. "I'm annunciating the best I can!" Holly shouted. For the past hour, Erik had been making her work on the annunciatioln of just the first line. All she wanted to do was go home, fall onto her bed, and sleep. She really didn't care about annunciation right now. "You need to go home." Erik then said. "Be back in the same room at 9:00 tomorrow night. Do not be late! I hate tardiness! Don't eat an hour before you come. Also, make sure you're well rested too." "Yes, sir." Holly said. Erik then took Holly back the same way that they had come.

~o~

When Erik got back to his lair, he went over to his pipe organ. He then began to compose a new opera. He would write it for Holly. And it would be different from any opera he had written before. When he had written his previous operas for Christine, they had all been written to fit her higher vocal range. They all may have had some notes in the lower range, but Erik knew that Christine was more comfortable with her higher range than her lower one. And he had found out from their lesson tonight that Holly was the exact opposite. And that had surprised him. When he had heard her in the audition, she had sung the high notes really well. So he had believed that she was a true soprano. But when he had asked her to go as low as she could tonight, she had been able to sing a D 3. Christine would have never been able to sing a note that low.

As Erik was getting ready to sleep, he thought about Holly. She was so beautiful. Even though she wasn't as beautiful as Christine, she came very close. She was definitely the second-most beautiful woman in the world. This caused Erik to think about the curse. Holly could be the one to lift it. _But she could never love me. Especially if she saw shat was behind the mask._ And he knew that it wasn't a good idea to try to force her to love him. He had promised himself that he would never again try to make someone fall in love with him. And he was going to keep that promise.

**A/N: So we now know that the curse has something to do with love. Also, D 3 is just a fancy way of saying the D below middle C. Also, I will be updating 5 chapters at a time. Don't forget to review and update!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Finally, a longer chapter! It's set the day before the premiere of Hannibal. And I changed my mind about updating 5 chapters at a time.**

It was almost here. Tomorrow, the Opera Populaire would have its grand reopening. It would also be the premiere of the opera Hannibal. When it had been announced that Hannibal would be the first opera to be performed at the new opera house, people were surprised. Some thought they would put on a new opera. Others thought it was bad luck to put on the opera, since the original opera house was burned not too long after Hannibal had been performed. However, all thought that it was quite odd that an unknown soprano had been cast in lead role, especially since it was the grand reopening. Most thought that a well known operatic soprano would have been cast in the lead. Still, all of Paris seemed to be excited about the whole affair. It was, after all, supposed to be _the _social event of the operatic season.

Inside the opera house, everyone was preparing for the premiere tomorrow. Rehearsals had been going on all day. After they had finished rehearsing the last act, M. Trudeaux clapped his hand. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention for just a moment?" He said. Then, when everyone had turned their attention to him, he continued. "I would like to introduce some of our patrons, M. and Mme. de Chagny and their son, Julien." Two men and a woman then stepped forward. M. Trudeaux then brought Holly forward. "May I present our leading soprano, Mlle. Holly Smith." After introducing some of the other major performers, M. Trudeaux asked Holly to perform Elissa's aria. When she finished, it was time for everyone to go home. Everyone that is, except for Holly. She was to have one final lesson before her debut. Erik had told her that they needed to go over every song in the opera to make sure she was perfect. Just as Holly opened the door to her dressing room, she felt someone put their hand on her shoulder. She then turned around to see Julien standing behind her. "You sounded marvelous when you sang the aria." He said, a grin spreading across his face as the door shut behind Holly. "Would you like me to take you home?" "Oh, my aunt is coming to pick me up." Holly quickly replied. "Well, why don't you call her and let her know that someone else is bringing you home?" Julien replied. "She has probably left already and she lost her phone yesterday and hasn't gotten to pick up her new one yet." Holly said, her tone laced with annoyance. She didn't have time to talk with Julien. It was three minutes until nine and Holly couldn't be late for her lesson. "Then, I'll wait with you until your aunt gets here." Julien said. "You don't need to do that." Holly said. "I'll be okay." "Are you sure?" Julien asked, hoping that she would change her answer. "Don't worry about her, monsieur." A girl said, walking towards them. It was Holly's best friend and Marie Giry's younger sister, Madeline. Madeline was the same age as Holly, but looked like she was only sixteen years old. "I am going to be staying the night with Holly at her aunt's house tonight." She said. Holly nodded, feeling relieved that Maddie had come and saved the day. Maddie was one of the few people who knew about Erik. Holly was so glad that they were friends. Maddie was her only friend at the opera house. Most of the girls didn't even try to talk to her. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, after the opera." Julien said, turning to leave. After he had left, Holly told Maddie thank you and went into her dressing room. "You're late." A familiar voice said. Holly saw Erik sitting on the sofa under the window. "I'm sorry." Holly said. "The son of one of our patrons offered to take me home." Erik then asked her a question that she hadn't expected. "What's this boy's name?" "Why do you want to know?" Holly asked, surprised by the random question. "Just tell me his name." Erik said, beginning to become angry. "First, you tell me why you want to know his name." Holly said, her anger beginning to show as well. "It doesn't matter what my reason is, just tell me right now!" Erik shouted, looking as if he was ready to kill someone. Then he remembered the curse and started to calm down. "His name is Julien de Chagny." Holly said, starting to calm down herself. "Ok." Erik said, acting as if they had not been shouting at each other only a moment ago. Holly had noticed that he always did that whenever they were shouting at each other. And it scared her. How could someone be so angry one minute and then calm the next?

When they had reached Erik's lair, they went straight over to the pipe organ. They then began working on tweaking the songs. When they finished three hours later, Erik showed Holly to her room. It had been decided about two weeks ago that Holly would stay at the opera house the night before the premiere. This had excited Holly. She had never been allowed to go into any of the other rooms. As they were walking towards her room, Holly noticed that it was the one room that Erik had emphasized more than the other rooms the fact that if she ever went into it without his permission, she would come to regret it. When they entered the room, Holly saw a bed that was in the shape of a swan. There was also a chest of drawers with a vanity mirror on top. Holly noticed that they both looked like they were priceless antiques. "You are not to look through any of those drawers." Erik said, turning to face Holly. "They have things that are very personal to me. So, they are forbidden. If you do, you will wish you hadn't. Do I make myself clear?" "Yes." Holly replied. "Goodnight, Erik." "Goodnight, Holly." Erik said, turning to leave. After he had left, Holly started getting ready for bed. When she finished putting on her pajamas, she got into the bed. As she pulled the covers down, she saw something fall to the floor. When she looked down to see what had fallen, she noticed that it was a beautiful, antique comb. It was the knd that a lady used to put in her hair. Holly saw that at the top of the comb was a small, red rose. _Erik must have missed this. _She thought. Then, making sure she was careful, Holly tiptoed over to the chest of drawers and quietly opened the top one. When she looked inside to find a place that she could put the comb, Holly saw so many things. Inside the drawer was a monkey playing the cymbals, sitting on top of what looked like a music box. She then saw a breath-taking diamond ring next to it. It looked to be at least 10 karats. There were some other things that also looked like antiques. Then, Holly saw a small painting of the most beautiful young woman she had ever seen. She looked to be about Holly's age. She had long, brown hair. Her eyes were brown. She had a cream colored complexion. Holly couldn't help but wonder who the young woman was. Then, after looking at the painting for a little bit longer, Holly suddenly remembered Erik's warning and quickly found a place to put the comb. She then quickly got into the bed, praying that Erik wouldn't realize that she had looked through the drawer. Soon, Holly was fast asleep.

~o~

Erik couldn't sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about the opera. He had watched the rehearsals earlier that day. They had been horrible. No one, except for Holly, seemed to be ready for the premiere. It had been painful to watch it. Almost all the singers seemed to be trying to outsing each other. The dancers were pretty good, but he had seen better. Then there were the stagehands. Most of them were drinking and so they messed up Holly's aria when they brought out the elephant. At least Holly performed her part flawlessly. He couldn't be more proud of her. Even if the rest of Hannibal was a disaster, Holly would still be excellent. Tomorrow, she would become a star. And it would be all thanks to him. After concentrating on that, Erik finally drifted off to sleep.

~o~

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own The Phantom of the Opera. It belongs to Andrew Lloyd Webber and originally belonged to Gaston Leroux. Maybe ALW will sell Erik to me someday. Wishful thinking.**

Holly woke to find Erik shaking her lightly. "It's time to eat." He said. "What time is it?" Holly asked still feeling pretty tired. "It's 6 AM." He replied. "That's too early." She said, groaning and turning over to go back to sleep. "Unless you want to go without any food until lunch, you best get up and get ready for the final rehearsal." He said, turning her back over. "Rehearsals start at 8 and you don't want to be late." Holly then rolled out of bed. "Let me get dressed and I'll be out in a few minutes." Once Erik had left the room, Holly began getting ready. After breakfast, Holly had enough time to decide what she would wear for the after party. She picked out a black and white low cut dress. This had been the one she had thought would look the best, but her aunt had told her to take at least one other one, just in case she changed her mind. _Maybe Erik will finally notice me._ Erik had always seemed more interested in their lessons than in how she looked. Even though he was at least 20 years older than her, he was very handsome. He actually looked quite a bit like her favorite actor, Gerard Butler.

Soon it was time for the final rehearsal. Everything seemed to go along better than yesterday. Nobody was trying to out sing each other. And the stagehands actually seemed sober. It seemed as if everyone knew that it was time to be serious and to actually do their jobs. When rehearsal was finally over, Holly went to her dressing room. When she looked at her vanity, she saw a note. She recognized whose handwriting it was almost instantly.

_Holly,_

_I will be waiting for you in your dressing room after the performance. I hope you accept my invitation to escort you to the after party tonight. It would be my honor to do so. I will see you tonight then._

_Erik_

Holly couldn't believe what she had just read. Erik wanted to take her to the after party! _Maybe he has noticed me!_

~o~

Soon, it was time for the opera to begin. Throngs of people were filing into the opera house. As Holly looked out into the audience, she became nervous. She had never seen so many people in one place in her whole life. There had to be at least 2,000 people out there and more were still coming in. Finally, it was time to begin. Holly went out into the wings. When she looked towards box 5, she smiled. She could see the slightest movement of the curtain. Erik was watching. He had told her to look for him there. Knowing that Erik was watching, Holly stepped out onto the stage with confidence. As she belted out the first notes, Holly thought only about Erik. She knew that if she looked at the people out in the audience, she would become nervous and probably mess up. Then, she took a big breath and began.

_This trophy_

_From our saviors, from our saviors_

_From the enslaving force of Rome_

The rest of the first act and the entire second act went by quickly. Soon, it was time for Elissa's aria in the third act. When Holly came out, she looked towards box 5. She would sing only for Erik. Taking a big breath, she began to sing. After she had sung the last note, she sighed with relief. She was finished with the one part of the opera that had worried her more than any other part.

After the opera was finally finished, Holly made her way back to her dressing room. Well, at least she tried to. Everybody wanted to talk with the new leading soprano. And Holly didn't want to be rude. After talking to some people, Holly was finally able to get away from the crowds. Then, just as she was about to open the door to her dressing room, she heard someone say her name. "Mlle. Smith." The voice called out. Holly turned around to see Julien walking towards her. "Please call me Holly." She said when he reached her. This made him really happy to know that they were on a first name basis. "You did really great tonight." "Thanks." Holly said, trying not to sound impatient. She needed to get ready for the after party. "So, would you like to come with me to the after party?" Julien asked. "I know it's kinda late to be asking, but I hadn't gotten the chance to ask you earlier." "I wish I could, but someone's already asked me to go with them." Holly said noticing the sad look in Julien's eyes. After a few minutes, Julien walked off. When Holly was inside her room, she quickly changed. Then she finished getting ready. Soon, she was ready for the party. Just as she was about to sit down, the mirror door swung open and Erik stepped. He was about to say something, but became speechless when he saw her.

~o~

Erik couldn't tear his eyes from Holly. She was wearing a black, strapless dress that went down to her knees. She had left her hair down and it went just past her shoulders. She looked so beautiful. Erik then pulled a box out of his tuxedo jacket. "I have something for you." He said opening the box. Inside the box was a beautiful necklace with a sing diamond in the middle. The diamond was in the shape of a heart. "May I?" Erik asked as he took the necklace out of the box. "Sure." Holly said. Erik then went behind her and put the necklace on her. "You look beautiful." He then said once Holly was turned towards him. _No, you look like an angel._ He thought. "Thank you." Holly said. Then she did something that neither Holly nor Erik ever forgot. She kissed him. Not a peck on the cheek or a quick one on the lips; a full, long, passionate kiss. And neither of them seemed to want to stop. Then, after about a minute, Erik finally pulled away. "We need to get to the party." He said reaching for the door knob.

**A/N: Sorry it's been a while since I last updated. I've just had so much going on with classes and everything. Summer classes have started, but I only go two days a week, so I should be able to update this more. And maybe I'll figure out what should happen in my other POTO story. I don't know. We'll see how it goes. Don't forget to review this chapter!**


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